METHODS
This is a cohort of all children hospitalized with SARS-CoV2 infection
from March to September 3rd 2020, and all children admitted with
influenza throughout five flu-seasons (2013-2018) at Hospital Infantil
de México Federico Gómez, a national referral pediatric hospital with
290 beds and more than 7,000 discharges per year.
Patients with influenza were identified from the clinical laboratory
database. Detection of respiratory viruses by PCR multiplex started in
2012 but was established as standard care of children with Severe Acute
Respiratory Infection in 2013. We reviewed all records of the subjects
with detection of influenza by PCR and included only those that had been
hospitalized.
All hospitalized patients with confirmed SARS-CoV2 infection were
followed-up prospectively. PCR test was performed on nasopharyngeal
swabs of suspect cases beginning in March 2020, and to all admitted
patients regardless of symptoms from June 2020.
We collected demographic and clinical variables from the clinical
records, including age, sex, comorbidities, symptoms, admission to PICU
(pediatric intensive care unit), need for mechanical ventilation and
death, among others.